“The girls just did a fantastic job today, I am just the proudest coach," Stetson head coach Mark Wilson said. "These young women have been through so much this year and I am just so happy that they pulled it all together and raced so well.”

After a great start the Hatters were in third place at the 500-meter mark behind a very fast Liberty Crew and Tampa team. Stetson stayed strong and actually started to move on Liberty around the 1000m mark but remained third behind Tampa and Liberty, but ahead of Florida, the University of Charleston, and Georgia.

The Hatters were sky high after the race and showed the good sportsmanship that every Hatter shows as they congratulated the winners on the water and later on shore. The team was happy and enjoying the victory.

In the Varsity Open 4 again the Hatters did a fantastic job of racing. Although they finished sixth of six teams in the grand final they came away with a sixth-place finish out of 24 teams in the event for the weekend.

“I am so proud of the way this boat raced this weekend, they were really incredible and made such vast and fast improvements in the last two weeks of training,” Wilson said. "The team did a fantastic job this weekend and are on their way to being a force to be considered when on the water.

"This weekend is important for our team going forward," Wilson added. "I am really excited not only about where the team is now but where we are going!”